Cap-spinning device



G. N. GODDARD.

.CAP SPINNING DEVICE.

APPucATloN msn ocT.2.191s.

Patnte @at 3L 31922.

. 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

G. N. GODDARD.

CAP SPINNING DEVICE.

APPLICATIQN FILED OCT. 2y 1918.

Patented Oct. 31, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Oct. 3l, 1,922.

GEORGE N. GODDARD, 0F NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CAP-SPINN ING DEVICE.

Application led October 2, 19.18. Serial No. 256,497.

T 0 all 'whom t may concer/lt.'

13e it known that I GEORGE N. GODDARD, cltlzen of the United States, and resident of Newton, county of Middlesex, State of Mas-4 sachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cap-Spinning Devices, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to cap spinning and partlcularly to that type of cap spinning characterlzed by a rotary yarn-engaging cap member mounted on a central rotary spindle member (either a bare spindle or a spindle 'carrying a separable bobbin or cop-tube) combined with means for effecting an axial v movement of one of said members relative to the other in order to build the yarn-cop such for example as is disclosed in the United States Patent to Victor Belanger 1,020,179, dated March 12, 1912.

Two'very serious practical problems are encountered in the practical use of this type of cap spinning; first the control of the yarn tension in order to properly wind a suitable yarn-cop on the spindle member and prevent excessive ballooning of the revolving yarn, and second the-problem of securing absolute reliability of action of the cap when, as frequently happens, slight deviation from perfeet balance is found to cause undue vibration of the spindle.

1t has been proposed to use a splined driving connection between cap and spindle with a reta-rding element loose y mounted on the cap to engage and retard revolving yarn, but vibrationbf the spindle causes such loose member to grip upon the cap thereby preventing its intended operation. Another proposed construction employing a gripping spring to releasably clutch the cap on the spindle withthe expectation that the spring would expand at high speed to allow the cap to slide on the spind1e,-encountered the -same difficulty beside being difficult of control and causing the unbalancing of the cap. Therefore, it was abandoned in favor of the splined driving connection.

The present invention is intended to supplement and improve this type of cap spinning by providing a simple practical construction and arrangement which will afford a complete and reliable solution for the difficulties above referred to and other minor difficulties encountered in this field based on the control of tension bythe cap itself.

The chief underlying principle of the present invention consists in maintaining such a frictional grip between the cap and its central spindle member that the cap can be quickly brought up to normal speed-when the spindle is started so as to prevent the breaking of the yarn while permitting the cap when in normal operation to rotate at enough slower speed than the spindle in order to maintain a. suitable tension for the proper winding of the yarn on the spindle member to' form the cop.

Another important feature of this invention consists in affording external lateral support for the cap on opposite sides thereof in addition to supporting the vertical or axial thrust of the cap whereby ythe lateral pressure is equalized and the cap is pre vented from lifting away from its under neath or vertical-thrust support which is occasioned at times by an unbalanced lateral preure.

Still another feature of the invention resides in providing the cap with a double internal bearing for engaging the spindle member, one part of which is of relatively larger diameter than the other in order to give a differential rolling contact between the larger bearing and the spindle to cause the cap to rotate more slowly than does the spindle member.

These and other features of the invention such as the details of construction of the cap and of its bearing or supporting members and of the construction of the lubricating traverse rail carrying the bearing members will be particularly explained hereinafter and will be defined in the claims hereto annexed.

In the accompanying drawings ll have illustrated a simple and convenient form of construction and arrangement illustrating a practical embodiment of the principles of this invention in which Figure lis a front elevation showing the spindles, the caps and their supporting members, the traverse'rail in their relationship to the drawing rolls and thread guides of an ordinary spinning frame;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional elevation at right angles to the plane of Figure l;

-section of the hollow lubricating bearing rail;

Figures 8 and A9 are enlarged details showing plan views of the interlocking arrangement by which the bearing members are detachably retained in their supporting bol sters.

Figure 10 is an enlarged central sectional view showing a cap provided with an internal bearing sleeve surrounding the spindle member.

In the practice of the invention according to the particular form therecf illustrated in the drawings, the spindle rail a', the traverse rail e, the lifting rods d, the thread board s and the drawing rollers 1', the thread eyes s and the spindles a are of the usual conn struction employed in spinning frames.

So far as concerns the operation of this invention it is immaterial whether the spindle member comprises a single 'cylindrical spindle blade on which the yarn is wound directly, or a separable cylindrical tube closely fitting over the spindle blade to form a separable cop-tube, hence the term spindle member will be used to signify either constructions since, when the cop-tube is on the spindle blade they form, so far as the spinning operation is concerned, a single central driving member on which the inverted caps are rotatably and slidably mounted.

ln the present case the caps are shown to be of the form of cvlindrical cups b formedl of any suitable material and preferably such as bake-lite which is very-light and strong and not aected by moisture. rllhe upper end of each cap is closed except for the central bearing orifice b5 by means of a disk or top b2 firmly secured to the cylindrical portion of the cap.

For reasons of convenience 'in constructing and securely holding the cap parts together the construction providing the central bearing for the lcap upon the spindle is made in two parts or disks b2, b3 separated from each other a short distance and having co-aXial orices b, b5 to form two bearing portions, the uppen of which is of a size to snugly lit the circumference of the spindle member a but not so tight as to prevent an easy sliding movement thereon. The lower portion of this central bearing as indicated at o* is very slightly larger in diameter, say a few thousandths' of an inch, than the upper portion of the central bearing so that the upper portion forms a guide for centralizing adapted to engagethe lower edge of the cap y and thus afford an' underneath support for sustaining the vertical or axial weight or thrust of the cap besides affording a lateral support in opposition to the Vsupporting member c to hold and maintain the cap -in correct operative position. i

By reason of the construction above described as seen in Figure 3, the cap will be given a slight-tilttoward the beveled bearing member d and slightly away from the lateral bearing member c which results in bringing the lower portion b* of the central bearing into close contact with that side of the spindle toward the bearing member jc. The two apertures 6*, b5 therefore form an elongated bearing slightly larger at its bottom than at its top,'and by making these portions of the central bearing in separate disks instead of in one piece, l provide simple and convenient means for effectively` securing the central bearing member of the cap detachably in place.4 lt will be observed that near its upper endy the cap is left with an internal annular shoulder op against which the disks b2 b3 abut and against which they are held in firm engagement by means of fastening screws bs inserted through apertures in one member and tapped into the other member.

lt will be obvious that as the cap is thus held in tilted 'position the spindle member a is frictionally gripped between the two portions of the bearing, and as this relationship remains constant throughout the traverse movement of the cap, there is always maintained a frictional grip or engagement which will be found sufficient not only to maintain the cap at normal operative speed while spinning, but also to start up the cap from a state of rest quickly enough to avoid breaking the yarn end.

There are several practical consequences from this principle of supporting the cap so as to form a frictional grip upon the central spindle member during the time it is driven. ln the first place, this frictional grip is quite sullicient to start the cap in operation without causing the yarn to break; in the second place, because the engagement is a frictional one there is permitted sufficient circumferential slip or retardation of the cap to cause it to rotate at a materially slower speed than the spindle member rotates, thereby produc-ing the requisite tension on the yarn to wind a firmly built cop on the spindle or bobbin; in the third place, since the lateral pressure of the bearing member c against the cap is resisted or lequalized by the lateral pressure of the cap against the beveled surface of the bearing member d, the cap is maintained in constant and uniform relationship to the spindle and is prevented from lifting away from its thrust bearing which would bethe natural consequence of an unbalanced lateral pressure.

In order to slightly vary the gripping pressure of the cap upon the spindle, provision is made for lateral adjustment between the spindle and the' bearing members. in order to effect this conveniently l prefer to have the cap-supporting or bearing members mounted in fixed bea-rings in the traverse rail e While making provision for adjusting the spindle laterally in either direction. As the spindle should be firmly held in place after it has been adjusted tocorrect position, I have provided the spindlesupporting rail with adjusting and positioning means comprising fiange washers f whose upwardly extending cylindrical fiange f is eccentrically bored to snugly fit around the bolster of the spindle. The exterior diameter of this cylindrical flange f is such as to snugly fit the interior of the spindle hole in the spindle rail. The interior diameter thereof fits snugly around the bolster of the spindle rail. A project-ing tongue f2 is also provided to facilitate the rotation of the washer to its proper position of' adjustment and also to ascertain, without taking out the spindle.) just what the circumferential position of adjustment the washer has at any time.

When the washer is adjusted to properly position the spindle a spindle-fastening nut is screwed home on the outside of the bolster in the usual. way and serves to pinch tlv* washer tightly against the'underside of the rail while firmly clamping the spindle in position.

If the caps are to be used for spinning coarser counts' of yarn which require a stronger tension, and consequently a-greater retardation of the cap, this may be effected by making the lower bearing memberat 7)* slightly larger. Obviously as there is a rolling contact between the lower portion of the central bearing of the cap, the `greater the difference between the size of this bearing and the size of the spindle member a., the greater will be the retardation of the cap, while on the other hand, reducing the size of this regulating portion of the bearing tends'to give a relative more rapid rotation of the cap.

Besides varying of the central bearing, minor variations in tension may be effected by slightly varying the pressure of the regulating bearing against the spindle member by the lateral adjustment of the spindle.

In order to prevent any injury to the yarn and also to prevent vibration of the cap, prefer to make those portions of the exterior bearing members c and t which form the rotatable supports for the cap of a relatively yielding or non-vibrating material. Such material as sole leather serves this purpose, but on account of thetendency of sole leather to become compressed and creased under usage, for reasons of durabilty I prefer to use washers or disks of the appropriate size and shape made of acompound of vulcanized rubber and ground textile fibresuch as is now commonly used as a substitute for sole leather in the soles of shoes. This material is machined very easily to prop'er form and size and is found to possess great durability beside affording an excellent non-vibratory cushion against the cap.

Instead of mounting the bolsters c which carry the cap-supporting members in the usual type of traverse rail used on ring frames between the bobbin apertures in the traverse rail, .l may employ a lubricatingr rail in the form shown in Figfgures 6 and T of the drawings. In this case the rail comprises essentially a tubular rail g having forwardly projecting extensions or elbows g which are also hollow and made to receive in their vertical bores a bolster L provided with upper and lower bearing disks It', h2 centrally bored to receive the pin m of the bearing member to whose head is secured a fianged cup-shaped annular hood or cap m extending down outside the bolster to receive the annular cushion fm2 which forms the contact with the cap. To prevent the pumping of oil I secure to the pin or shaft lmy slightly above the upper bearing m a projecting flange or washer 1m@ which extends to throw any oil from the shaft radially outside against the side of the bolster.V The bolster is also provided at its top with the inwardly turned lip or ring h3 so that the oil 'will not swirl over the top. In order to prevent the accidental lifting or withdrawal of the rotary shaft m from its seat or lower thrust bearing-f1;1 the flange or collar Am3 may be made of an oblong form or shape as shown in Figure 8 which very snugly lits a corresponding. aperture in the inturned flange fr at the top of the bolster. This permits the rotary "shaftto be inserted in the proper operative position in its bearings,v but as it can be withdrawn only when the collar member 'm3 exactly registers with the inturned flange o1' ring lr* it can not jump out when rotating yet can be easily withdrawn by hand.

To maintain lubrication of the upper bearing at It I plrefer to give the pintle or shaft m a slightly increasing taper from its lower bearing to a point slightly below its upper bearing sothat the oil, under the action of centrifugal force, will tend to seep on the shaft to the upper bearing sufficiently to maintain its lubrication when the oil, level is below the level of the upper bearing.

At its lower end the bolster is perforated to freely admit oil from the reservoir formed by the tube g. The bottom of the bolster is provided with the central depression or .rec-ess in which may be placed a hardened Steel ball lr* to receive the vertical thrust. Each lifting rod ai of the traverse rail is provided at its upper end with a supporting bracket cl2 extending transversely of thel traverse rail and the spindle rail of approximately L-shape to receive and support the traverse rail g and the forwardly extending bracket or elbow g, the rail being locked in place by a set screw4 g3 so as to permit its easy removal.

As the weight of the rail is olf the center of the lifting rod (Z a counter weight g* running over a sheave gm, may be employed to off-set this lack of balance in order to prevent any possible binding of the lifting rod d in its vertical bearings due to lateral strain or pressure. i

With proper adjustment it will be found that the spindles may be driven at speeds much above the spindle speed that is practicable for rin and traveler spinning, and it will also be ound that with thisr arrangement theA tension of the yarn will not be adversely affected by t-he vibration of the spindle. Moreover, with the balanced support for the cap it will be found that the cap instead of disturbing the spindle when rotating at highv speed acts as a sort of steadying bearing to make the spindle run more smoothly.

In case the device be used with a coptube of paper or other material that might be scored or roughened by the friction of the centralizing bearing at the top of the cap, it might be advisable to interpose a bearing sleeve4 or wear sleeve N such as shown in Figure l() which is inserted inside the top bearing to permit the rotation of the cap thereon, while protectingl the bobbin itself 'from rotation or wear.

Any suitable expedient for keeping the sleeve in position may be employed such as an annular shoulder or lip 79S. The sleeve fits closely around the bobbin but is not tight enough to prevent it from sliding easily thereon while the centralizing l'iearings b2, if' of the cap are free to rotate on the sleeve just as they would rotate on the bobbin itself ywere no sleeve used. Even though the wear sleeve 317 have some rotation on the cop tube, the wear will bc distributed suiiismall clearance between itself and the sleeve thereby permitting the above-described arrangement of idlers to cramp the cap .in driving relationship to the bobbin.

It will he found that a cap constructed andmounted in accordance with the abovedescribed principles will control the tension of the yarn by its own retardation due to its slower rate of rotation than that of the spindle member unaffected by the vibration of the spindle so that the proper tension is maintained under all reasonable working conditions. Moreover the opposed lateral support afforded the cap when mounted on the spindle may serve to steady the spindle when in action, particularly when the cap is near the top of the spindle member at the time when the spindle would normally be sub'ectedto the greatest strain. This princip ev of controlling the tension of the yarn by the controlled retardation of the cap is an underlying feature of the invention.

Vhat I claim is:

1. In a cap spinning device the combination with a rotary axial spindle member, of a rotary yarn-engaging cap rovided at its upper end with a central bearlng surface for engagement with'said spindle member to slide axially thereon, and external rotary supporting means engaging said cap and acting to tilt said cap slightly from coaxial relationship to said spindle and thereby cramp the central bearing surface of the cap against the peripheral surface of the spindle member to produce a frictional driving engage ment between said surfaces sufficient to cause rotation of the cap while permitting it to slide axially of the vspindle, substantially as described.

2. In a. cap spinning device the combination of a rotary spindle member forming a driving element, a yarn-engaging copbuild ing cap having a central bearing surface surrounding the spindle and frictionally engaged therewith to permit both axial and circumferential slip between the peripheral surface of the spindle and the said central bearing surface of the cap, and rotary capsupporting means mounted cxteriorly of the cap in position to incline. the cap slightly in relation to the spindle axis in order to maintain a light gripping 4engagen'ient between sald surfaces for causing the cap to be rotated by the spindle. substantially as described. Y

3. In a cap spinning device the combination with a central spindle member`v a rotary cop-building and yarn-retarding cap provided with central bearing engagementupon said spindle member at slightly different levels thereon, and external means for rotatably supporting the cap and maintaining the cap in operative position during rotation with the axis of the cap inclined to the axis of the spindle member, substantially as described.

4. 1n a cap spinning device the combination with a central spindle member, of a rotary cap having a double central bearing in engagement with said spindle member, capsupporting means for operatively supporting and traversing the cap during its rota tion, said cap-supporting means having lateral bearing engagement with said cap to cramp the respective portions 'of the central bearing frictionally against opposite sides of the spindle member in orderl to maintain, during starting and normal operation, a frictional gripping engagement With said spindle member, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a central rotary spindle-member, a cop-building and tension controlling cap having central bearing frictional engagement with said spindle member, external bearing members rotatably supporting said cap in operative position and having opposed lateral bearing engagement with said capI to hold it frictionally engaged with the spindle member during normal rotation whereby the cap is rotated by the spindle member at a relatively slower speed in order to retard the revolving yarn, sub stantially as described.

6. The combination with a central driving spindle member, a cap havingr central bearing engagement with said spindle member, and a plurality of cap-supporting members having opposed lateral engagement with said cap and maintaining it in operative frictional driving engagement with said spindle member with the axis of the cap slightly inclined to the spindle axis, and means for traversing the cap axially of the spindle to build a cop.

7. r1`he combination with a central driving spindle member, a. cop-building and yarnretarding cap, opposed rotary bearing members for operatively supporting the rotating cap, one of said bearing members having lateral bearing contact against said cap, the 4 other bearing member having a bevelled supporting surface engaging the lower end of the cap to afford axial support for the cap and to oppose the lateral pressure of the first-mentioned bearing member1 substantially as described'.

8. A cap for cap spinning comprising a tubular or cup-like member open at its lower end and provided at its upper end with a central bearing for engaging a central driving spindle, said bearing comprising two circular bearing surfaces having slightly different diameters one of which snugly fits upon the central spindle member, and the other portion being of slightly larger diameter so as to aord a clearance between itself and the central spindle member on the side opposite to its contact with the spindle,

substantially as described.

9. A cap for cap spinning comprising a hollow cap open at one end and provided with an internal spacing shoulder near its yarn end, a pair of. centrally perforated disks held together against opposite sides of -tarding cap having central bearing engagement upon said spindle member, cap supporting idler members arranged on opposite sides'of the spindle each having lateral bearing and supporting engagement with said cap to maintain it in operative position, one of said members affording an axial support against the axial thrust of said cap, and spindle adjusting means for maintaining the spindle positively in the proper position of adjustment to secure suitable` bearing engagement between the cap and its supporting idler members, substantially as described.

11. The combination with a series of spindles, a traverse rail mounted adjacent thereto, a series of rotatable idler members having beveled surfaces supported on said traverse rail, another series of idler bearing members arranged on said traverse rail in alternation with said beveled' idler members, and a series of cop-building and yarn-retarding caps mounted upon the spindle members and each held in proper operative engagement with said spindle member by and between eachv pair of adjacent idler members, substantially as described.

12. In a cap spinning device, the combination of acentral rotary spindle member upon which the yarn being spun is Wound, a centrally apertured rotary reciprocatory cap frictionally rotated by engagement between the inside surface of said aperture and the outside surface of said spindle member, and means arranged exteriorly of said cap acting to cramp'said .cap laterally in relation to the spindle to establish a frictional driving engagement between the inside surface of said aperture and the opposed surface of the spindle, substantially as described.

13. 1n a cap spinning device the combination of a rotary spindle member, a rotary reciprocatory cap, external supporting bearing members engaged said cap in opposition to each other to support the cap in frictional driving engagement with the spindle member, and a wear sleeve interposed between the bearings of the cap and the spindle member to protect the spindle member from wear due to contact with the bearings of the cap, substantially as described.

14. In a cap spinning device, the combina tion of a central rotary driving element, a rotary yarn engaging and cop-building element comprising a cap provided with a concentric bearing surface dimensioned to closely surround the driving element but with sufficient play to allow axial and circumferential slip of one element in relation to the other, and exterior rotary cap supporting means positioned to cause said cap to be pressed laterally against the driving member with suicient pressure to maintain a frictional driving connection between said concentric bearing surface and its interior driving element to produce the requisite rotation of the cap, substantially as described.

15. A traverse rail for a cap spinning machine embracingin its construction a longitudinal supporting member extending parallel to the row. of spindles, and a series of transversely arranged hollow tubular oil container bolsters projecting between each adjacent pair of spindles and provided'at their forward ends with vertically arranged bearings for supporting rotary cap engaging members.

16. In a cap spinning frame the combination of a tubular traverse rail extending parallel to the row of spindles and forming a common oil reservoir and to the rear of said spindles, a series of Short tubular branches projecting forwardly from said traverse rail and in communication therewith to receive oil therefrom and provided at their forward ends with vertical bearings arranged in substantial alignment with the row of spindles, and a series of rotatable idlers mounted in said bearings in position to engage the adjacent caps carried by said spindle members, substantially as described.

17. In a cap spinning device, the combination of a rotary driving spindle member, a reciprocatory rotary yarn-engaging cap provided with a central spindle-engaging bearing of somewhat larger internal diameter than the diameter of the engaged portion of the spindle member and rotatable external supporting means arranged to press the cap laterally against the spindle member to maintain a frictional driving contact against one side of said central bearing and thereby cause the cap to rotate at a lower speed than the spindle owing to the difference in the diameters of the spindle member and of the said central bearing of the cap.

In witness whereof, I have subscribed the above specification.

GEORGE N. GODDARD.. 

